Honeycomb cores of sandwich structures are generally made up of numerous interconnected cells providing a support structure having high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios. Typically, honeycomb structures are made by an expansion or a corrugated process. The expansion method of fabricating honeycomb structures from a web material generally involves stacking sheets of the web material having adhesive mode lines printed thereon to form a block. After curing, the block may be expanded to the desired cell shape and then cut to appropriate dimensions. In the corrugated process for making honeycomb structures, the web material is corrugated into a number of corrugated sheets and adhesive is used to interconnect the corrugated sheets to form a block which may then be cut to appropriate dimensions. The expansion and corrugation processes are particular useful in fabricating honeycomb cores out of metallic and non-metallic materials. Other processes for making honeycomb structures, such as from composites, involve fusing the nodes together.
Honeycomb cores fabricated in accord with the processes outlined hereinabove may be used in the aerospace, transportation, recreation and marine industries to fabricate honeycomb core sandwich structures. Such honeycomb structures are particularly useful in the aerospace field, where lightweight and high strength structures are required. For example, in aircraft structures, honeycomb panels have been used in wings and to support various devices within an aircraft. For spacecraft applications, honeycomb structures should be lightweight in view of payload weight limitations for launching spacecraft, and the honeycomb structures should also be structurally stable, as such honeycomb structures may function as a load bearing members. For example, honeycomb structures may support a variety of devices within the interior of the spacecraft, such as batteries or other electronic components.